


and the moon rises, so beautiful

by xenorosis



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ATLA Big Bang, ATLA Big Bang 2020, Animal Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Yue (Avatar) Lives, because of what happened to appa :(, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27228925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenorosis/pseuds/xenorosis
Summary: In which Yue lives, sets off to help war refugees, meets the Kyoshi Warriors and promptly falls in love with Suki. They also take down the Dai Li along the way.
Relationships: Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: ATLA Big Bang 2020





	and the moon rises, so beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! Chapter 1 for my ATLA Big Bang fic! :D 
> 
> Huge thanks to the mods for organizing the whole event, you are all amazing. It was lots of fun working with my betas [cj](https://katarasyue.tumblr.com/), [millie](https://just-a-little-in-over-my-head.tumblr.com/) and [wybie](https://wybiegowritey.tumblr.com/), thank you for your help. [natalie](https://clarvoyant.tumblr.com/) created some beautiful art! Which you can see [here](https://clarvoyant.tumblr.com/post/633248634594639873/hold-still-and-let-me-do-your-make-up-for). Give her some love!
> 
> Title from the poem "The Sweetness of Dogs" by Mary Oliver.

Yue stands by the oasis. This place is sacred, to the tribe, but even more so to her. She owes her life to the spirit grove, to Tui and La. Now she watches as destruction reigns, as her home falls apart and as the ocean spirit that gave her life lays dying in the old man's hands.

Helplessness and frustration rise within her, each battling for attention. This is the very spirit that saved her, giving her a chance to live. Yue cannot, _will_ not stand by and watch her die. 

"Let me help," Yue says. She steps forward, towards the man so gently cradling Tui. He may be from the Fire Nation but his care for the spirit endears him to Yue. It’s nice to know good people still exist, even in a nation that has brought devastation to so many. 

"The moon spirit gave me life," she explains. "When I was very young. I could try to give that back, to save her."

The man regards her with eyes that have experienced more than she could imagine. He looks her over, eyes stopping at her white hair. He considers her offer before finally nodding at her words. 

"Return the life that was granted to you. It may work. You do understand the risk?"

Yue draws in a deep breath, eyes falling from his face to stare instead at her feet. Of course she understands, how could she not? The moon spirit gave her life; without the spirit she no longer has that life. 

Yes, she understands that this could kill her. But it would be worth it. So many of their warriors have lost their lives protecting their home. If she has a chance to save them all, she must take it. It is her duty as their princess.

Yue says none of this. She just looks the man in the eyes and nods her head once, with surety. That simple gesture conveys enough; he holds his hands out to her. 

She lays her hands across Tui—so very cold even under her chilled fingers—and closes her eyes. She imagines the push and pull of the tide and recalls the sound of the waves, a sound she has known longer than the voices of her loved ones. Yue can feel her hands warm with life and she can feel as they get colder when the energy leaves her. 

She pulls her hands away with a sharp inhale. It was a strange feeling, to slowly go cold and dead while she is still alive. Yue detests it immediately but reaches for the spirit to complete the task she began. 

But the old man is already leaning down to let Tui slip back into the oasis. Tui swims away from them, rejoining her partner in the center of the pond. Above them red bleeds out of the moon, leaving pale white in its place. 

Yue turns to find the old man smiling at her. "The moon is not greedy. She thanks you for your gift."

Yue smiles back, already feeling fatigue weigh down her limbs. "I'm glad I could help."

That is all she gets to say to him before Sokka is tackling her in a hug from behind. The force of his joy is almost great enough to knock her to the ground. She laughs and turns in his arms to reciprocate the hug. 

They stand that way for a few moments, Yue soaking in the warmth of his arms around her and Sokka quietly reassuring himself that yes, she is here and she is okay. 

He holds her close, squeezing for just a second, then pulls away, far enough for him to look her in the eye but close enough that his hands still rest on her upper arms. "I'm glad you're not dead."

She closes her eyes and smiles at his blunt words, letting her head drop so her forehead rests on his chest. "Me too, Sokka." 

His hands move to her upper back, just resting there to keep her close. "Let's not tell your dad how close you came to dying?"

"Mmm, that's a detail we can keep to ourselves."

They make their way back to the palace, arm in arm. On the way, they see the remnants of battle. Men and women helping injured comrades up, townspeople emerging from safety to assist with cleaning or care. The palace cook and his helpers are handing out steaming bowls of fish stew to the warriors with the help of some townspeople. Children old enough to help are running around with spare blankets and helping look for other kids lost amongst the frenzy of the fight.

The Northern Tribe has always been resilient. They will be okay in time.

Fire nation soldiers are being taken to the dungeons. Some manage to flee, avoiding detection by the warriors searching for them. Yue catches sight of a boy whose face is scarred, angry red flickering like fire around his left eye. He's making his way discretely away from the city. He catches her stare for a moment and then he is gone. 

When they reach the palace, her father is pacing. A familiar habit and one he did often when he was worried. The tension in his face eases quickly when he sees Yue and she accepts his silent invitation when he opens his arms for an embrace. 

Yue can feel the slight shake in his arms when they tighten around her. It pains her to make him worry this way. "I'm okay, father. I promise."

He pulls away and his eyes trace her face, one hand running over her head. "Your eyes…" 

At her questioning look he elaborates. "They’re brown now. The same colour as your mother's. What happened?"

"I saved the moon?"

Her father’s face twists in shock for a moment before he laughs. "Sounds like quite the story. But we can talk later, yes? It's been a long day. Sokka! Will you be staying?"

Sokka smiles at his offer but shakes his head. “Not right now. I need to find my sister and Aang. We’ll be back later tonight.” 

Arnook nods in understanding. When Sokka turns to leave he calls out to him again. 

Arnook just watches him for a moment before speaking. “Thank you. Your actions today will not be forgotten.”

Sokka’s eyes drift to Yue where she still stands at Arnook’s side. “I’m glad I was able to help.” 

And then Sokka is gone. Yue promises herself she will find him tomorrow. Today has been electrifying and absolutely exhausting and spending time with Sokka is something she would sorely like to do. 

With her father's hand resting warm and familiar on her shoulder, Yue walks back to the only home she's ever known. 

They eat dinner together and act like things are normal. Yue appreciates it; she doesn’t know how to handle what happened and she wants some normalcy before she really has to think about it. 

Yue explains what happened at the spirit oasis and her father is suitably impressed and awed in all the right places. It’s nice to have something to talk about; their usual discussion of her day is usually just her lessons and the time she spends with Muraka. 

Arnook jokes that Hahn will be proud of his future bride and something inside Yue wilts a little. She knows Hahn is a strong warrior, truly one of the best in their tribe, and she reasons with herself, thinking he must be a somewhat decent person but she loathes the idea of marrying him. Yue can’t imagine spending her life with a man like Hahn. 

They only find out later that Hahn is gone and part of her is glad she is free. The other part of her is horrified she could be glad over someone's death. Does that make her a bad person? Guilt plagues her and she ignores how it eats away at her insides. 

She speaks with Katara over breakfast the next day. Yue has grown to like Katara very quickly in the past few days. Her admiration for the southern water tribe girl is immense, especially after seeing her confidence in declaring women can fight just as well as any man. It made Yue yearn to be a bender solely so she can fight the way Katara does. There is grace in the overwhelming power she wields. 

Yue consoles herself by deciding learning to fight with a weapon of some kind would be her own style of confidence. She can be just as fierce as Katara, in her own way. 

They discuss the siege and what happened at the spirit oasis, Yue's eyes and then her hair. Her eyes are a rich brown now (she took a look at her reflection that morning) and the ends of her hair have started turning brown as well. It’s a darker brown than Katara’s, almost black. When her father saw it that morning his only comment was that it was just like her mother’s. Yue decides she quite likes the brown hair; being a princess already makes her different so at least she’ll look more like the rest of her tribe. 

Katara teases her about liking Sokka and Yue returns the tease by making Katara blush about Aang. It's nice. Yue’s only close friend is Muraka and while she loves her friend dearly, she and Katara are nothing alike. Where Muraka is brash and joyful, Katara is gentle and kind (unless provoked, in which case she will not hesitate to put you in your place). Yue feels like Katara is equally happy to have her as a friend. Katara is clearly a strong young woman, but she's travelling with her brother and the boy she likes. Yue can tell she hasn't had much in the way of female friends. 

Katara leaves with Aang after breakfast; they want to see what they can do to help in restoration efforts. With Katara's bending expertise and Aang being the avatar, Yue is certain they'll accomplish much before the day is over. She watches them walk off together, Aang laughing at something Katara says. Yue smiles. It’s sweet how much they care for each other. 

Sokka is waiting for her when the others have gone. He stands just outside the entrance to the dining hall, grinning when she exits last with Arnook. Her father leaves them together but not before giving her a knowing smile and an approving nod at Sokka behind his back. Yue covers her smile by glaring at him and waving him off before Sokka can see.

Sokka gives her a grin and offers an arm for her to take. "Would the princess care for a walk?"

" _Yue_ would love to go for a walk with you."

"Even better."

She accepts his arm and lets him lead her outside. They walk down the streets in silence for a while, watching the people rush about, mending the damage caused in the fight. Waterbenders are helping repair the ice that makes up the buildings, many of which are partially melted or entirely destroyed thanks to the projectiles fired from the Fire Nation navy. It’s hard to see the damage in place of the once pristine streets but heartening to see that her people are already hard at work. 

"Last night was pretty crazy, huh." Sokka's voice is quiet. He sounds tired and it makes Yue tighten her grip on his arm in a reassuring squeeze. Sokka's eyes trail on his feet as they move across the snow. "I… I'm really glad you're okay."

Yue opens her mouth to reassure him, to spill platitudes and sweet words to brush away the crease of worry and grief in his brow, but she stops when he raises a hand. 

"No, listen, please. When you were healing the moon spirit… you went really still and really pale. It was eerie. You looked…"

He doesn't have to finish the sentence for her to understand what he means.

"So, I just… I'm really, really glad you came out of that alive."

Yue smiles sadly. There are so many things for them to discuss, so many emotions she has that she doesn't know how to put into words. She loves this boy but somehow it isn't like it was before. It isn't the burning rush that spread in her chest or the tingling that spread over her skin when he touched her. It's calmer now; a river of fondness, a warm heat. It's different. 

She doesn't know how to explain it but she doesn't love him like she did before. 

"Sokka, I…"

He speaks before she can finish. "This isn't going to work, is it?" 

"What do you mean?"

He looks away, one hand brushing over his wolf tail and down the back of his neck. He sighs before answering her. 

"We have to leave."

A part of her knew they weren't staying but after how well breakfast had gone, she had dared to hope. 

"I know."

He looks up at that, bright blue eyes meeting hers. 

"You're travelling with the avatar. I've seen what the Fire Nation can do firsthand.” She gestures at the carnage left around them. “The world needs Aang and Aang needs you."

Sokka takes her hand and rubs a thumb across her knuckles. It's soothing, the back and forth motion; just the waves. "I don't really want to leave."

Yue pulls their joined hands up so she can drop a kiss on the back of his hand. She smiles to herself at the flush that colours his cheeks. "And yet you must. Go help save the world, noble warrior."

He laughs at that and slings an arm across her shoulder to pull her in for a side hug. They talk about lighter topics as they continue their walk through the city, debating whether the cuisine of the Northern Tribe or Southern Tribe is better (Yue wins but only because Sokka has to admit they have more variety in their dishes) and stopping to play with some of the younger children, keeping an eye on them while their parents are busy. 

Sokka turns out to be adorably good with kids, quickly rallying them to a game of hide and seek all across the city. It takes most of the afternoon for Sokka and Yue to find them all. 

Despite the devastation they faced last night, Yue finds she's happy. 

The avatar's team leaves after staying a few more days. Yue and Sokka spend time together when they can but they both agree not to pursue a relationship when they have no idea when they will see each other next. They part on good terms and Sokka promises to visit.

Neither mentions that Sokka is leaving to help the avatar fight a war and that Yue may never see him again if he doesn’t survive. 

It takes two weeks for Yue to crack. It was easy to know a war was happening outside her walls and not really comprehend what that meant when she had never experienced any of it firsthand. Now that she has she aches to help. She’s restless and needs to keep her hands busy. Yue does what she can around the city, helping people move into newly rebuilt houses and clear away the wreckage of ships and weapons left behind. That is, she helps when the townspeople let her. As their princess, they are loath to let her engage in such labour, saying it's below her status. She ignores them, continuing to work at their side and when they really try to stop her she invokes her privilege as water tribe royalty. After all, when directly asked if they would go against the desires of the princess, none are willing to say yes. 

Yue has no shame in using her privilege this way. Her father finds it highly amusing and says her mother would have done the same. 

Yue loves to help her people but her mind wanders as her hands work. She thinks of the thousands of people out in the world that suffer at the hands of the Fire Nation. She thinks of the people who lose their homes and have nowhere to go. She wonders who helps them and then she wonders why not her? With the resources available to her who is she to not put them to good use?

It takes some time but she manages to convince her father to let her go. He agrees on the condition that she takes a group of guards with her. She counters with her getting to learn some fighting skills of her own and agrees to take one guard of her choice. They compromise with two. 

A full moon cycle passes before Yue and her friends are ready to leave. Muraka trains with her; since Katara’s fight with Master Pakku, Yue’s father was surprisingly quick to agree that the women of the Northern Tribe should be allowed to fight. Yue suspects it was Katara’s very cool but admittedly terrifying bending ability but her father admits it was a tradition her mother had been trying to change since before Yue was ever born. Unfortunately, she didn’t get far in her efforts, stopped by the stubborn elders and her untimely death. Katara’s demonstration makes it clear that particular tradition is outdated and so Aake, Muraka’s brother, helps them train for their trip. 

Muraka and Aake readily agree to travel with her. Yue is glad because she wasn’t sure who to pick if they turned her down; her father would have sent her with two of the palace guards and while they were admittedly skilled, Yue didn’t know them, not really. She is much happier with her childhood friends by her side. 

Muraka is Yue’s closest friend. They’ve grown up together over the years, from when they were children playing with the polar bear dog pups to when Muraka started to learn how to heal with her waterbending. Her brother Aake is a non-bender like Yue but his skill with a club is rather impressive. 

Yue met Muraka when they were both five; it was the first time Yue had snuck out of the palace. 

After losing his wife and almost losing his daughter in the same night, Yue’s father became overly protective. Yue was confined to the palace “for her own safety.” It didn’t take long for her to get bored with no one but two noble children to play with (who were happy to play with each other but somewhat reluctant or maybe anxious about playing with the princess). With all the time she spent wandering the palace it was fairly easy to learn how to slip out unnoticed. A little under a year of this and her father got tired, so she was allowed out of the castle as long as she had an escort (she was just a child at the time, after all). 

That first break-out though, that would always be the most memorable. Yue had been running from the guards when Muraka pulled her into the gap between two houses. They stood there as quietly as they could until the guards had passed. Then Yue grinned at Muraka and they spent the rest of the day together. At least, until Yue was caught. Every other time Yue ran away from the palace, she spent her time exploring with Muraka and eventually met Aake. 

Now, almost ten years later, Muraka stands at her side as they move through stances, Muraka with her waterbending and Yue with her spear. Her father gave her the spear; it used to belong to her mother. It was simple but sturdy: a sharp stone blade at the tip and a slim wooden handle that had a small moon carved just below the base of the blade. 

Yue falls in love with using it quickly. It’s hard in the beginning. It takes time to get used to moving with it but with practice it rapidly becomes an extension of her body. She moves swiftly with her spear, the swing of her arm and her quick steps reminding her of Katara’s flowing water and sharp ice. She and Muraka have a great time sparring together, worn but cared for wood and stone against fluid water.

Aake is grudgingly impressed with their quick progress. He hates to compliment his sister but when Muraka beats him in a sparring match, he has to admit her waterbending skill is equal to his own. 

When they’re not training, the siblings help prepare the ship they’ll be travelling on and Yue organizes groups to send aid to various places in the Earth Kingdom. One group even chooses to go to the South Pole. It’s about time they reached out to their sister tribe; no sense in them remaining isolated in such dire times. It’s already taken them far too long for them to reach out. 

Maybe if they had tried to help each other sooner, Katara wouldn’t be the last waterbender of the South Pole. Maybe Sokka’s mother would still be alive. 

Yue stresses over the planning right up until the day of their departure. Her father has to guide Yue out of the council room and to the dock so she actually makes it on the ship. She’s reminding him of the work that still needs to be done when he places his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to stop talking and listen. 

"Yue, Yue! Don't worry. We can handle this while you are gone.”

She breathes out long and slow and gives him a grateful smile. "Thank you. Thank you for letting me go."

He smoothes a strong hand over her hair. "My little one is spreading her wings. I will not be the one to keep her from flying."

He turns her to the ship and gives her a gentle push. She boards the ship and stands at the rail, watching as the siblings work to get the ship moving. Then they are off and for the first time in her life, Yue is leaving her home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters for this will be posted once a week! Hope you all enjoy.


End file.
